Have you ever wondered why some Iranian girls who have lived most or all of their lives outside of Iran wear hijab? Is hijab really their choice or did their relatives force them? Now that they wear hijab, what is the reaction of the people of the country they live in? Are behaviors different?
I raised these questions in one of the forums of expatriate Iranians. 4 people answered these questions: 3 Iranians and 1 American. I translated the answers of 3 people from English to Farsi and the fourth one from Pinglish to Farsi! It is interesting that some of them have promised me that if someone gives an opinion, I will definitely translate for them!
***
Asthma: Dream
Age: 20
Country: Canada
I wear hijab for religious and personal reasons. Honestly, most people in Canada respect me, but sometimes they ask me why I wear a headscarf and I explain that this is one of the religious orders and as a Muslim girl I have to cover my hair in front of non-mahrams. But unfortunately, some Iranians behave badly. You know, they mix politics and religion. In my opinion, everyone has the right to choose their own path in life, and no one has the right to insult the opinions of others. As we respect others, others should respect us.
***
Asthma: the goddess
Age: 16
Country: Canada
My family is not very religious. My mother is relatively religious, but generally more traditional than religious. Ever since I can remember, I have tried to follow the law of God or these people, because you know that if I don’t, it will end in my loss. You know the difference between a religious person and a non-religious person is that the one who has religion always has a weapon in his hand, even if that weapon is extra or heavy.
It’s like sending 2 people into a forest you don’t know, and they say you prefer to have this heavy weapon in your hand so that if creatures attack you, you can fight them, or go without a weapon because you think this forest is not dangerous. . Because I personally believe in heaven, hell and God, I always tried to have this weapon in my hand. Of course, maybe my hijab is not perfect, maybe my morals are not completely correct, maybe my heart is not made of glass, but I know that there is a God above who is so forgiving that he forgives my sins because of the effort I make, and is so kind that he loves each one of us. Leave it to love each other.
I have researched about different religions before and I even had the right to choose, but in the end I saw that this Islam is better than all of them. But unfortunately, some people came and translated many things of Islam badly and explained it badly, causing people to think wrongly. For example, they do the same stoning in Iran! It’s not Islamic law at all… I made a lot of inquiries… or many other things about women’s rights… I think it’s a woman’s honor to wear a hijab! Maybe this hijab will make people pay more attention to your inner and heart than… After all, if the other party accepts God, he won’t say “why” anymore, and if he says, he is sure that the reason is for his benefit… Here, the Jews wear a hijab, but they are very veiled, and the Muslims also wear a veil. Almost 99% of the people I know are very respectful and many encourage and give compliments. The remaining 1% are usually Iranians, which is very rare.
***
Asthma: Laurie
Age: 28
Country: America
weblog: Chef’s musical
I have been wearing a hijab since I converted to Islam at the age of 19. It was my choice and my parents, being Christians, did not ask me to do such a thing. I was not even married when my husband asked me to wear a hijab, and no one in the mosque made me feel that I had to wear a hijab. When I first wore a hijab, I didn’t understand the reason for it, except that it was for modesty and that it seemed like a good thing. Little by little, as I learned about my new religion, it became more meaningful and now I am happy that I am veiled.
Since I wear hijab, I have lived in different places: A university town, two large cities in North America, a small town in the North and a medium-sized town in the South that was near a military base. I was in Ukraine and Spain for a while. I expected it to be difficult in this southern city where I live now, where they are very conservative and pro-Bush and war, etc., and there are a few resident Muslims and less veiled Muslims. I think less than 15 women, maybe less than 10 women wear hijab. I was surprised to find that most people were very kind to me. I think the reason is that southerners are taught from childhood to be very polite and polite even if they don’t like someone. Who knows, maybe their minds are more open than I think. I was worried about another issue and that was the existence of a military base, but the soldiers did not pay much attention to me. Maybe the reason was that I didn’t attract much attention because, except for the scarf, I wear American clothes such as skirts, blouses, pants or shirts. I don’t wear jalbab or all black.
The people of the cities and the student town were friendly and I had no problems even around September 11. The northern city, which is also my hometown, is an exhausting place. There are only a handful of Muslims there and there are no mosques and I have never seen a woman wearing a hijab. The people there are not as warm as the southerners and sometimes they stare at you. I go there just to see my father.
In Ukraine, people stared at me a lot, but the people were not unkind, and I understood that their people generally stare at foreigners, no matter how tense they want to be. I was teaching English in a small town and there was also a young African who people were constantly staring at because they had never seen a black person except on TV.
Spain also had a good time. People were very friendly with me. Only one man insulted me and he was also drunk so I didn’t pay much attention to him.
***
Asthma: Mona
Age: 18
Country: Canada
At the beginning, I was forced to wear a hijab and I could not live with my parents who forced me to wear a piece of cloth on my head forever, and I wondered why most Muslims wear a hijab. I researched for 5 years or more and now I am satisfied with my hijab. Now no one forces me to wear hijab and the only one who forces me is myself instead of hating this compulsion, I love it.
